After AirWatch, Syncplicity Should Be Next on VMware's List

One of my very, very long time requests was for VMware to finally acquire a true MDM/MAM company and enhance Horizon Mobile. OpenPeak was always a favorite as a target acquisition, but so was AirWatch and MobileIron. For whatever reason at the time, I felt that AirWatch would be the right choice.

As I was writing my "rant-athon," I never expected that after several years VMware would finally make that acquisition, and so when I heard the news, I said some words that can't be published here, but "About time" sums it up. I will be watching VMware to see how quickly it integrates AirWatch into Horizon.

The AirWatch buy is now behind us, but technology moves that fast and there are still some gaps that need to be plugged up. So while VMware is in the acquiring mood, let's see if VMware is listening and maybe it can knock out a few more requests off my wish list. In that same post, I suggested that it enhance Horizon Data, and it can do that by combining it with EMC Syncplicity. The combination would make for an excellent gap-filler.

As EMC and VMware continue to collaborate and position products in the right portfolios, I am sure they can see how Syncplicity shouldn't be a stand alone product. It really belongs in Horizon Data, so that VMware can properly address its lack of a Dropbox-type of solution in the enterprise. It can sell the solution as part of an end-to-end End-user Computing strategy, where the new Horizon Data (with Syncplicity) can be integrated easily with AirWatch, View, Mirage, and the other components. I'm hoping that in the near future it becomes the platform upon which VMware expands its profile management to leverage Horizon Data.

Dropbox is a true problem in the enterprise, and not because it is a bad solution. (On the contrary, it is a revolutionary offering that created a new market segment.) Dropbox for one lacks auditing capabilities, and secondly it lacks good security and privacy features.

More important, enterprises are tired of purchasing point solutions that are difficult to integrate. Rather than make an isolated purchase of an MDM solution, then MAM, then cloud file sync, then collaboration and finally desktop virtualization and physical PC management, enterprises are after more holistic solutions, where each product works well together. They absolutely need and want to take a holistic approach to its software and services choices, end to end. That's why the combination of Syncplicity and Horizon Data is the right move. The VMware sales force can sell it better, the story is better, and the customer wins with a significantly richer Horizon Data.